Preface The expedition ARK XIX/3 with the German icebreaking RV ...

The ARK XIX/3 expedition
A. 1 Itinerary and summary ARK XIX/3
Klages, M., Thiede, J., Foucher, J.-P.
During the third leg of RV "Polarstern" expedition ARK XIX/3 the French deep-sea ROV
(Remotely Operated Vehicle) "Victor 6000" was onboard. Shiptime demand was so high
that the cruise leg was separated into three sublegs in order to make "Polarstern" and
"Victor 6000" accessible to as many European research groups as possible. Three
geographical areas with different scientific objectives were investigated: (i) the Porcupine
Seabight and the Porcupine Bank southwest of Ireland with focus on deep-water
corals(Fig. A1-1), (ii) the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (HMMV) northwest of Norway at
about 1250 m water depth where the greenhouse gas methane enters the hydrosphere
(Fig. A1-2), and (iii) the AWI long-term deep-sea station "Hausgarten" west of Svålbard at
2600 m water depth where causes and effects of physico-chemical gradients at the
sediment-water interface are studied in detail with regard to biodiversity in Arctic deepsea
sediments (Fig. A1-3).
After departure from Bremerhaven in the early morning of the 23 rd of May "Polarstern"
headed to Brest harbour for installation of the ROV which lasted from 25 th of May until 1 st
of June. The 43 rd Board meeting of the AWI took place onboard "Polarstern" in transit to
Brest. The first visit of "Polarstern" in Brest was used to introduce high delegates of the
German and French ministries for science and technology into the results and
perspectives of the French-German cooperation in the field of marine and polar research.
Over 40 marine scientists from institutions in Ireland, Belgium, the UK, France and
Germany were participating the first cruise leg of this expedition. They have completed an
intensive study program on Irish coral locations using “Victor 6000”, an unmanned deepsea
remotely operated vehicle that can dive to 6000 m water depth, weighing about 4.6
tons equipped with cameras and manipulators that allow the collection of samples and
data with unprecedented precision.
It was cloudy and windy as "Polarstern" left the port of Brest early in the morning of the
2 nd of June. While heading towards the first working area in the Porcupine Seabight some
scientific instruments were activated for some trials and calibration. Soon after breakfast
the new scientific party was introduced to the rules onboard and the working schedule of
the next few days. After some discussions the laboratories onboard were allocated to
different working groups and soon after the various researchers started to install and test
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